The Unknown Citizen
A modernist W.H Auden was very concerned about the modern idea of a man losing his identity in the fast-paced technological world of today. He is very critical of the state taking control over the individual. In the unknown citizen, he tells us that all the organizations of the government and research agencies are very happy with the unknown citizen because he does everything right at the right time. He is a model of compliance. He listens to every dictate of the state. He is a loyal and friendly man. He generates revenue for the government because he believes in installment schemes. He has everything that a modern man needs to have – a phonogram, a radio, a car, and a frigidaire. The poet mocks the citizen who relinquishes his identity to serve the state. The state expects these sacrifices from the individual.
Analysis of "The Unknown Citizen"/Critical appreciation of the poem ‘The Unknown Citizen
The very first
line of the poem introduces us to the Bureau of Statistics and its findings.
What has the Bureau of Statistics found about the unknown citizen that his
conduct was excellent and that there was no written complaint ever about him.
In a modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint said the poet. We
should understand from this line that the modern meaning of the word Saint
meant one who sacrificed everything to listen to the dictates of the state. The
poet then goes on to tell us about the work history of the unknown citizen. He
worked for a company which was called Fudge Motors Incorporated and on the day
of his retirement he was he worked loyally for this company except during the
time of war when he went to war. The poet then talks about the trade union to
which the unknown citizen belonged. The Union acknowledged his loyalty and attained
his normalcy. The union reported that he wasn’t a scab or odd in his views. He
also paid his dues.
The next line
of the poem that our reports on the union said that the opinion of the union
was sound tells us of the immense control of the state over the individual. It
doesn’t leave him any privacy, and freedom to be on his own. That the citizen
was an amiable and sociable man is reported by the Social Psychology workers. The
Social Psychology workers, researchers report that he loved to share a drink
with his mates it was. It should be noted that it was the pastime of the era when
workers worked for long hours in the factory while returning home stopped at a
pub and had a drink as attains the normalcy of the unknown citizen.
The word
popular further enhances the citizen's compliance with the given and the
accepted. As a conscientious man he bought a newspaper every day and his reaction
to advertisements was normal in every way. The policy is taken out in his name to
prove that he was fully insured. His health card said that he was only once in
hospital but he left it cured.
Producers Research and High-Grade Living reported that he was fully sensible to
the installment plan. He had everything that a modern man needed to have to
lead a comfortable life. He had a gramophone, a car, a frigidaire, and a radio.
The next few
lines talk about the family of the unknown citizen. He was married and he had
five children- the right number of children according to the population expert
that a parent of his generation needed to have. The poet says that all the
government agencies and research organizations were happy with the individual
like the Bureau of Statistics, Producers Research and High-Grade Living, the
medical department, the press, and so on.
The last
couplet which speaks about the individual's happiness and freedom is very
hard-hitting. The poet asks us, despite fulfilling all the expectations of the
state, is the individual happy? Is he free? and the last line of the poem which
says that had anything been wrong we should certainly have heard tells us of
the suffocating control that the state puts the individual under.
Tone
The poem is
very ironic in its tone. What is irony? Irony is a mode of speech where the
real meaning is exactly the opposite of what is conveyed. I give you an example
of irony. My class today all of you know is from 10:00 to 11:00 o’clock. All of
you are seated when I come into the class but there is one student who enters a
class at 10 minutes to 11. I look at the student and I say this ‘ Oh! good
morning, I’m so happy that you’re in time for the next class!’ Actually, I’m
not happy with the individual for coming late but in fact, I’m angry and I’m
ironical in my tone.
What does the title of the poem ‘unknown citizen’
signify?
The title of the poem ‘unknown citizen’ signifies that the citizen is
thoroughly unknown because he doesn’t have any personality or individuality of
his own. His name doesn’t bear any importance and it has been reduced to a mere
identity number.
Who is being attacked in this satire?
The bureaucratic society where the individual is reduced to a cipher; where
conformity is promoted instead of individuality.
Irony in the poem ‘The Unknown Citizen.
The poem ‘The Unknown Citizen is a satire. W. H. Auden employs irony in the
poem which is reflected even in the title. It is about an unknown citizen who
is hard to find in society. It is the wish of the dictatorial government to
have such a citizen. The sub-title of the poem says ironically that the unknown
citizen doesn’t have any individuality. He has lost even his name. He has
reduced himself to an inanimate thing. The dictatorial government has made a
number of agencies maintain their policies. We hear about the citizen not
through his individuality but through the Bureau of Statistics. The citizens
are being controlled by the secret agencies of the government. These agencies
hold the public opinion of the government. The government dictates what a
citizen should do and what he should not. It is very ironically said that the
unknown citizen is free and happy. It means that if any citizen conforms to the
wishes of the government by sacrificing his individuality, he will be free and
happy. The government will erect a marble monument for him as a token of its
gratitude.
Q.N.1. what does "unknown" mean in the title of the poem?
Q.N.2 What is the tone of the poem? Explain
Q.N.3. Would you like to live as an unknown citizen as described in the poem? why or why not?
Q.N.4. Critically analyze the poem "The Unknown Citizen".
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